Mayflowers and Michael Holmes

The Mayflowers “Ship Of Theseus”The Mayflowers are one of my favorite Japanese artists, late last year they launched Ship of Theseus and it arrived here this month. The brainchild of Osamu Satoyama and assisted by Tatsuya Nishimura on drums, the band moves away from the quick three minute pop tunes of Plymouth Rock and spends more time on mid ’70s rock oriented epics. “Detroit Highway” is one such homage, you’ll hear influences from Kiss, Boston, and/or Grand Funk Railroad.

Osamu hasn’t left the psychedelic ’60s behind either, as “Flying Birds” and “That’d Be Nice” resembles the shimmering guitar melodies and swirling Sgt. Pepperisms that fans of XTC and The Wondermints enjoy. His Japanese accent is pretty heavy, so I had a hard time deciphering a lot of the lyrics, but the shimmering guitars in “Love Potion #5” are very much in the mold of Teenage Fanclub. Overall a terrific sounding album with an equal mix of rock boldness and pop flourish.

Michael Holmes “In A Lucid Moment”Hudson Valley, NY singer songwriter gives us a fine example of Adult Contemporary pop. Holmes developed this album as a tribute to his parents, in particular for his father who cared for his mother as she suffered through Alzheimer’s Disease. Despite the difficulties, his dad’s love revealed some special moments, as heard on “Better To Have Known You” and “You And I.” Holmes does a fine job with the instrumentation and he keeps each melody heartfelt, another highlight is the slick opening track “Magic Power.”

The tender guitar song “Boys and Girls” is reminiscent of Jimmy Buffett and “Turned On By Your Body” is a charming and funny novelty song. The album settles into a series of light ballads, some sure to stick with you. Holmes gives you a bit of his heart, so the least you should do is give him a listen.